Namibia's mining sector a bright spot amid struggling economy

WINDHOEK, Dec. 5 (Xinhua) -- Namibia's mining sector has been a hive of activity in the last quarter of 2017 and managed to create opportunities for growth in a struggling economy, according to Namibia Chamber of Mines CEO, Veston Malango.

The Chamber of Mines on Tuesday released its closing Newsletter edition for 2017, which gave an overview of the sector during 2017.

In a statement Malango said the recent second quarter statistics showed contractions in most sectors and an overall negative growth rate of 1.7 percent.

"While general performance of the local economy was negative with a subdued outlook, mining was one of the two sectors that posted a strong growth in the same period, of 25.8 percent as compared to a decline of 19.4 percent in the corresponding quarter of 2016," Malango said.

According to him, the strong growth is attributed to favorable commodity prices of base metals and a recovery in diamond production.

Malango said that the outlook remains positive, especially for copper with prices topping 7,000 U.S. dollars per metric tonne in October.

Meanwhile in terms of developments for 2017, the Chamber of Mines in October hosted and co-organized the Symposium of Chambers of Mines and other Mining Associations in Africa and managed to sign the Windhoek Declaration, which established a continental body, the Association of Chambers of Mines and other Mining Associations in Africa (ACMMAA). Enditem